Life-saving gate on railway crossings



May 25 192.6.

l 'E. S. JONES ET AL LIFE SAVING GATE ON RAILWAYl CROSSINGS Filed Deo. 22, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 25 1926. 1,585,993-

E. S. JONES ET AL LIFE SAVING GATE 0N RAILWAY CROSSINGS X Filed Deo. 22, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 SLOOO F FOR DR\V\NG OVER 4 Muna AN anun oven FIG@ TMS GATE f 03a EDWARD 5. dom-:sf N T. Jonas,

attoz nu! Patented May 25, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALABIA.

LIFE-HAVING GATE ON RAILWAY OROSSNGB.

Application led December-1 22, 1924. Serial No. 757,406.

i This invention relates to a life saving gate for use at railway crossings and it has for its object to provide means to compel the drivers ofv automobiles to come to a full 5 stop before passing over the railroad tracks.

'It is a well known fact that thousands of people arekilled and tens of thousands are vseriously injured in railroad crossing accidents, every year.

A device which will eiiiciently serve to compel automobile drivers to exercise the necessary care before passing upon railroad tracks will result in the saving of many lives and will prevent the injury of many thousands of persons, yearly. l

A device of this character in order to bc practicable must be of such a nature that it will not unduly delay traiiic; will not be' likely to be put out of order by the elements;

3 of such a nature that reckless drivers cannot drive around it and of such a nature that it can be seen from a distance, so that drivers will be suiiiciently warned of their approach tothe appatusin time to come s to a stop upon reac g it.

Further minor objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the de tailed description which follows: i

In the accom anying drawings wherein i like reference c aracters designate correF sponding parts hroughout the several g.-l ureszl Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating a section of railroad track and a part of a roadway adjacent thereto,'upon opposite sides thereof. y

Figure 2 is a detail view oi." a structure adapted to serve as a preliminary warning to the drivers of the automobiles.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the assembl 1 at one side of the track. y igure 4 is a pers ective view of a depressible guard plat orm adapted for use at the left side o the road.

Figiure 5 is a perspective view of the tilting p atform of the apparatus, as used upon the right hand side of the road.

Fi re 6 is a detail view of the pulley and dlil, at the free end of the tilting platform, and

Fi re 7 is a side elevation or' the tilting plat orm and associated parts with a pneumatic checking cylinder, hereinafter described, in section.

In the drawing, T designates a section driver, While the left hand railroad track and 6 a .roadway crossing thel same. While we have illustrated, for purposes of explanation, a single section of railroad track it is manifest that a double track or any number of tracks maybe arded by the apparatus hereinafter descri d.

' The arrows indicate the direction of travel in Figure 1 and the invention, broadli;l stated, contemplates the provision of two tilting platforms, one upon each side of the track and at the right'hand side of the roadway as one approaches the track, said platforms being indicated generally at A and B. It is to be understood that the terms right and left, as used in this specification and in the claims in rtferring to the right or left side of the road, have the usually accepted meaning as relating to the proper direction of trafiic. In other words, the right hand side of the road is that side of the road to the right of the driver and ne'ar to the side of the road is the far side of the road with respect to the driver. AWarning structures C are disposed in advance of the tilting platforms and'will be presently described. Upon the left hand side of the roadway as one approaches the track I locate tiltin platforms D of such a nature that a vehic e can pass over them in one direction but not in the other. These tilting platforms D serve to prevent reckless drivers from driving around the tilting platforms A and B. Each of the warning structures C com rises which is pivotally mounte upon a post 5a and which is provided with an operating handle 8 by wh1ch the outer end of the lever may be drawn downwardly to lift the inner end of the lever and withdraw from the path of the vehicle a series of dependin cords 7, having knotted ends or balls 7*. frame 9 carries a warning sign 10 notifyin the driver of the necessity of stopping and pulling down upon the handle 8 to thus elevate the cords or rope 7. If the driver fails to heed the warnln and attempts to drive past the structure, illustrated in Figure 2, without elevatin the rope, the knots or balls 7 upon the en s of the cords 7 Iwill rap sharply upon the wind shield and warn the driver of his approach to the tiltin platform A or B as the case may be. E cord or cable 11 is connected to the lever 5 at 12 and when the inner end of the lever is n thrown upwardly this cable, which passes a lever 5,

through a guide tube 13, is drawn upon, and throws a barrier 14 to the elevated position illustrated in Figure 3. When the automobile in its passage past the structure C, strikes and rides over the barrier 14, `the cable is drawn upon to restore the lever 5, and consequently the warning ropes 7, to their guarding position. After passing the struc'ture C the automobile arrives at the platform 15, the rear end of which is pivoted as indicated at 16. The free ends of the side members of the platform carry grooved rollers 17 and bails 18, said bails being loosely connected with the side frame members A ofthe platform andembracing bars 19, which constitute the side frame members of a gate or barrier 20, and which side frame members are pivoted at 21, so that the barrier 20 may rock from the vertical position illustrated in Figure 7 to the dotted line positionV illustrated in said figure. This action takes place, whenever, by the passage of an automobile on thetilting platform 15, said platform is thrown from the tilted position to a horizontal position. At this time the grooved rollers act upon the cam portions 22 of the bars 19 and throw the barrier 2O down to horizontal position so that an automobile may pass thereover. n The descent of the platform 15 is rendered very slow and gradual by the provision of suitable checking mechanism, such as pneumatic cylinders 23. Plungers or pistons 24 disposed in the cylinders are rovided with rounded ends 25 upon which he side frame vmembers of the platform may rest. Extensions 26 of the piston rods 27 pass through slotted openings 28, formedpin the platform. Ports or passages 29 and 29a establish communication between chambers 30 and the interior of the lower portions of cylinders 23. The passages 29 are provided with inwardly opening check valves 34, while the passages 29a are provided with outwardly opening check valves 34?. Stout springs 35 resist the downward movement of the pistons 24 in the cylinders. Thus the descent of the pistons 24 and consequently the rate of descent of the platforms is determined by the `capacity of the ports or passages 29a. When the pistons 24 move downwardl29a and the valves 34 close. When pressure upon the platform is released, by thepassage of a vehicle therefrom, the springs 35 tend to restore the platform to elevated position and at this time air may' enter through the passage 29. The rateof ascent of the platform will be determined by the capacity of the passages 29 and this may, in turn,v

be determined by the adjustment of the valve screws 37 and 38 which are accessible from the exterior of the cylinders, and which control the mouths of the ports or passages, 29 and 29a. A suitable frame ly the. air is forced out of the passages work 39 supports warning signals 40 and 41 and these in yturn serve the purpose of rendering the guarding structure visible from a considerable distance so that strangers in the community approaching a railroad crossing at a rapid rate of speed will be warned a sulicient distance away from the structure to enable them to reduce their speed and come to a stop by the time the guarding structure is reached.

To prevent unscrupulous persons from driving around the guarding structure we dispose upon the left hand side of the roadway, as one approaches the track suitable guarding structures comprising pivoted platfroms 41, having their points of pivoting, indicatedat 42, disposed away from an approaching vehicle. The other and free end of the platform 41a is held in an elevated position by springs 48 to such an extent that machines approaching from the wrong direction will find a barrier preventing their passage, and constituted by the free edge 49 of the platform 41. From the foregoing description it will be seen that an automobile cannot pass around this guarding structure upon the wrong side of the road and that if it passes over the guarding structure as it should do it must wait until its weight has depressed the platform 15 enough to move the barrier 2O to horizontal position. Then, and not until then, can the vehicle proceed. By means of a checking apparatus comprised by the pneumatic cylinders the descent of the platform is rendered suiiiciently slow so that the vehicle must come to a full stop and this gives the driver an opportunity to note whether a train is approaching upon the track or tracks T.

Since most grade crossing accidents are caused by the disinclination of automobile drivers to take the trouble and time to come to a stop and ascertain whether a train is approaching it follows that if they have been forced to come to a stop there will be no inducement for them to hasten upon the track if a train is, in fact, in sight. Consequently the structure of the resent invention may be relied upon to re uce to a marked extent the serious and shocking 'accidents that occur, almost constantly, in this country.

We prefer to mount red lights X at suitable points upon the structure to warn drivers at night. It is common practice in railroad crossing gates to provide bells or other audible signals and we may employ these known devices, if desired.

It is to be understood that the invention 12 of the side framel rods are engaged by the grooved rollers and are embraced by the yokes.

2. In a device of the character described, a platform comprising a body portion, frame members which project beyond the body portion, grooved rollers at the outer ends of the frame members, a transverse barrier and cam rods constituting parts of the transverse barrier which cam rods are engaged by the grooved rollers.

In testimony whereof we hereunto .aiix our signatures.

EDWARD S, JONES. NICHOLAS TATE JONES. 

